Pokemon Sword & Shield: Ranking Every Gym Leader

Piers sneaks in out of nowhere and takes the crown. He’s not even there for the opening gym ceremony, as the game keeps him under wraps until the very last moment. There are a couple of things against him, which we’ll get to soon, but they’re massively outweighed by the positives anyway.

He doesn’t really have a gym trial at all, but the whole narrative around Team Yell shutting down the town and Marnie sneaking you in makes up for that. No Dynamaxing also means there’s a bit less drama, but then your mileage may vary on whether that works for Piers or against him.

What’s undeniably in his favour is that we finally have a Dark type gym leader. His adherence to Team Yell’s aesthetic means he doesn’t wring every drop of potential out of Dark, but he’s got a solid team nonetheless. His design is the most over the top of all the characters, but the commitment to the bit is well received and makes Piers stand out even more.

He comes into the game very late, but from the time you meet him at the seventh gym, he’s constantly involved until the post game is done and dusted.